Dinner Tonight: From the Pioneer Woman

Every time I start cooking dinner, once I’ve got my wineglass situated and the cookbook out I think, “I should post what I’m making just in case anyone is interested and because I love to cook!” So this time I’m following through.

I just bought Ree Drummond’s new cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier.

 

I’ve made five recipes from it so far and I’ve only had the book for a few weeks. This cookbook suits my family perfectly because it’s really tasty, homey food made with good product and easy to make. The author, Ree Drummond is also a wonderful writer and photographer. I love reading her blog. Mostly because she posts great recipes and says sexy, wonderful things about her husband. If every wife made an effort to desire her husband the way she does, the world would be a happier place. It would probably end all wars.

Anyway, tonight I’m making Sloppy Joe’s and Whiskey Glazed Carrots. Previously I’ve made Chicken Fried Tacos, Strawberry Shortcake Cake, and White Chicken Enchiladas. All on the Super Yummy Scale a 10.

The carrot recipe is wonderful. My kids will love it. (We haven’t sat down to eat yet because I’m here with you.) I added peas because it’s Grethe’s favorite vegetable. The Sloppy Joe’s turned out great too – very sweet and I added fresh chives from my neighbors garden. (She gave them to me. I didn’t steal them.)

So there you have it. Dinner on a Monday night. Sounds good, nes’t pas?

The God of Our Government

Sometimes the sermon is so good and the fellowship time so short that I get home and still feel quite “full” from what I heard from the pulpit and I want to share my thoughts and comments with others still! So I’m sending out this little note. Pretend we’re having coffee, tea (or better yet, wine) at your kitchen table, our kids are playing quietly together (yeah, right!) and we’re discussing the good things of God.

Dr. Moon spoke from Revelation 12:13 to 13:10 about the first Beast. I was comforted much like everyone else to learn that theologians and scholars tend to agree on one thing within these verses: that the “beast” represents empires or worldly governments. Of course, which empire the beast represents is not as agreed upon, but I don’t think that matters much. It’s just good to know they agree.

The beast has two desires: to be worshipped and to destroy the people of God. I know that sounds overblown, but use of political power to destroy Christians has a very long history. And it’s happening today. Pastor Moon mentioned Yousef Nadarkhani, a Christian pastor, who is currently in jail in Iran for being a Christian and faces possible execution for apostasy and other erroneous charges. It’s easy when you hear Yousef’s story or read about the Canadian clampdown on homeschoolers not to teach that homosexuality is a sin to begin to fear changes that may be coming in our own government. But we shouldn’t fear, as Pastor Moon encourages us, nor be surprised when the world hates us. Remember that the apostle Peter says we should not be surprised when a fiery trial comes upon us as though something strange were happening (1 Peter 4:12). Rather, we should rejoice! Suffering for being a Christian is a good thing. The world that hates Christians is just being the world.

What stood out to me most was Joshua’s retelling of the story of the Christian woman who, as a young girl was taken captive by Turkish rebels, later became a nurse and found herself working to save the life of the very man who was once her captor. When asked by him why she didn’t just let him die she replied that she serves Someone Who teaches her to love her enemies. This is an exceptional example of having no fear. In fact, my thought during the sermon was that she exemplifies a living, breathing witness to the verse, “What can man do to me?” (From Psalm 56:11, 118:6 and Heb 13:6) And thinking on these verses reminded me of that beautiful chapter I memorized long ago and that has become very dear to me; Romans 8:

Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:35, 38-39)

I left the sanctuary uplifted by the remembrance of the victory Christ has purchased for us and that although a “beast” may be raging a battle, he has already lost. Our Christ has won. There may come a day when the government we live under decides that Christians are what’s wrong with the world and target us for persecution. I hope at that time that I, or my children or my grandchildren will have the grace to love their enemies. I believe they will because they will be confident in the God who’s true government is upon his shoulders.

This Is It: My Best Marathon Yet

Well, it’s official. I’m now registered for the 2012 Bank of America Chicago Marathon and I’m actually very excited.

My last marathon was Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, MN and it wasn’t so great. I finished, but it still took me four hours. I think that was the third or fourth marathon where my time was slower then my best which is 3:59:36. This marathon in Chicago, however, will be my best yet – I can feel it.

Why, you ask? Because I have made every possible mistake a marathon runner can make. I’m all out of mistakes. It’s now up to the Lord whether the other marathon conditions come together to give me a good run. Let me explain. Here are the things you’re NOT supposed to do when training or running a marathon and here all the things I’ve completed:

• Don’t have a short training schedule. I trained once for only 12 weeks.
• Not a good idea to not drink ANY water at all the entire week before you run. I drank only coffee and wine before my last Chicago marathon. I just forgot.
• Prepare for heat. I haven’t done that.
• Probably not a good idea to run a marathon, not drink much water and still be breastfeeding an infant. I’ve done all those in one race. (The breastfeeding was AFTER the race was over.)
• Don’t overtrain. I once trained for 19 weeks and got really sick of running and burnt out before the race.
• NEVER try something new the day of the race! Now, that’s a no-brainer, right? I decided my last race to try some new gel packs with twice the amount of caffeine. It was a disaster.
• Don’t go out too fast. Done that.
• Don’t go out too slow. Check.
• Always get there at least an hour earlier than your start time. For Chicago I didn’t get there until about 5 minutes before the start. Little hint: if you’re not there on time, officials don’t let you enter the start coral wherever you want. You have to enter at the very back. So instead of being up by the 3:50 finishing group I started somewhere around the 44,oooth registrant dressed in a costume.

I think that pretty much covers it. So I would say, I’m good, huh? I’ve covered just about every mistake possible so this marathon HAS to go well! At the very least, I can assure you that I will do everything in my power to avoid repeating the same errors listed above. The rest, as I said, is up to the Lord. If this marathon ends in disaster it will be because of some outside force beyond my control, and I will conclude that I was just not meant to run a fast marathon. And that’s cool. But if it ends well, then I think I will just go home feeling good that I’m a real marathoner; that I know what I’m doing and I can actually help others be good marathoners as well.

Wish me well and no mistakes!!

The 2012 Chicago Marathon is Sunday, October 7.

How Can I [A Black Woman] Embrace the Theology of Men Who Owned Slaves?

Anthony Carter, author of On Being Black & Reformed was interviewed by Tabletalk magazine of Ligonier Ministries. (One of my favorite ministries.) In the interview he gives his personal testimony of how he can embrace a theology that was promoted by mostly white men and men that owned slaves. He also addresses a number of other issues related to race and theology and the African American experience. It’s a very good and helpful interview. Read the whole thing below. (HT: Justin Taylor)

Being Black and Reformed: An Interview with Anthony Carter

by Anthony Carter

Tabletalk: Why did you write the book On Being Black and Reformed?

Anthony Carter: When I first came into the knowledge of Reformed theology, I was excited and invigorated to share this truth with others. However, I quickly discovered that not everyone found Reformed theology as compelling as I did (go figure). This was particularly true within African American circles. Because of the caricatures of Reformed theology that have become popular in some Christian circles, and because of the unfortunate history of some within Reformed confessing Christianity, many African Americans find Reformed theology in general, and Reformed-minded Christians in particular, not very sympathetic to their history and culture. I wrote On Being Black and Reformedbecause I wanted to nix those thoughts and demonstrate that not only is Reformed theology biblically and historically consistent, but it is not antithetical to the African American Christian experience. In fact, Reformed theology makes the most sense of the world in general and the history of African Americans in particular.

TT: How did you first discover Reformed theology?

AC: When I was saved and sensed a call to ministry, I set my mind to study the Bible all I could and to learn the teachings contained in there. I had a lot of theological questions and would seek to find answers in a variety of quarters. However, what I discovered was that the vast majority of my answers were coming from guys who held to the Reformed theological tradition. I was not aware of what Reformed theology was at the time, but I knew that the answers I discovered were bathed in the Scriptures.

It was not until I discovered the teachings and writings of J.I. Packer and R.C. Sproul that I began to put the categories together and realized just how mentally compelling, heart-humbling, gospel-centering, and joy-producing Reformed theology could be.

TT: A number of American Reformed theologians were slave owners. How can a Christian who is black embrace the theology of men who owned slaves or who defended the slave trade?

AC: Indeed, this is one of the hurdles many (not all) African American Christians find hard to get over as they come to understand and embrace Reformed theology. I have often contended that the reticence that some African Americans have toward an embrace of Reformed theology is not as much the theology as it is the ones who have held to it. There are, however, a couple things to be said about this. First, the sordid, sinful, and tangled history of slavery in America was not just the property of Reformed Christians. Christians from practically every religious confession in America have a poor history of racism and even slave holding. To disregard any tradition that held slaves would be to disregard practically every theological tradition in America. Admittedly, the problem has often been that while other traditions have been quicker to acknowledge their sins in this regard, many in the Reformed tradition have been slow to and have even retreated into their own theological and cultural enclaves rather than deal publicly and forthrightly with the transgressions of the past. Consequently, Reformed Christians have been viewed as less vigorous in denouncing the sins of slavery and thus implying their approval of it. This perception is unfortunate, yet real.

Nevertheless, the question remains. To answer it, allow me to make it personal. How can I, a black man, embrace the theology of men who owned slaves? I can joyfully embrace it because I realize that I am embracing the theology of the Bible and not necessarily the frail, fallible men who teach it. I can embrace the theology because it allows me to point out the sins of such teachers and yet the grace that is greater than that sin.

How could the early Christians embrace the theology of the Apostle Paul when, as Saul of Tarsus, he pursued, persecuted, and even consented to many of their deaths? They could do it because they understood the gospel to be greater than not just their sins but also the sins of those who transgressed against them. I can embrace it because if we listen and learn only from those in history who have no theological blind spots, then to whom shall we listen and from whom shall we learn? Biblical theology must be larger, more grand than the imperfections of its teachers. I believe Reformed theology is.

TT: What is your opinion regarding the largely non-integrated state of local churches?

AC: For years, the evangelical church has decried the ethnic and cultural divide that is found in local churches. While we are comfortable with and even insistent upon integration in larger society, for some reason integration within the walls of our local churches is not something we have been able to achieve. God has given us a vision for it in the Scriptures and even in our hearts, but, apparently, He has not allowed that vision to come to full fruition in the vast majority of our congregations. The fact that the church is not the most integrated institution in society is troublesome when you consider that we have the one message and power to bring about true reconciliation, namely, the gospel and the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, I do understand the difficulty.

Most of us like comfort. We like to be around people with whom we are comfortable and have much in common. This is particularly true when it comes to those places that mean the most to us — home and church. Thus, not only are our churches not integrated, but even more rarely are our families integrated.

Still, this lack of integration is not something with which we should be comfortable. The vision of the Scriptures is clear. The vision in most of our minds is clear (I don’t know too many people who don’t want to see their churches more integrated). The question to consider is whether our churches are places where people sense Christ is celebrated — not culture, class, or ethnicity, but Christ. It is difficult to not celebrate culture, class, and ethnicity. Yet, this is what we are called to do. This is what we are called to strive after. The fact that our churches are not integrated is not as troublesome for me as is the fact that culture and ethnicity often trump the gospel, even in what we might believe to be the best of churches.

TT: What have you learned as a pastor that seminary did not prepare you for?

AC: When I went to seminary, I had a love for theology and the Scriptures. Being in seminary and working at Ligonier only enhanced both of those passions. However, what seminary did not prepare me for was the necessity of love and passion for people. Love is indispensible. Serving as an associate pastor under a godly and giving man, and now serving as lead pastor of a church plant, God has taught me that as important as my love for His Word is, I must also have a love for His people. This comes not from sitting in classrooms or poring over historical texts in the library but rather from sitting in living rooms, waiting rooms, and courtrooms. It comes from doing weddings and funerals. It comes from doing life together and realizing that the gospel is not just a message to be prepared every week; it is also a life to be lived and loved together every day.

TT: If you could study under any theologian in church history (excluding those in Scripture), who would it be and why?

AC: Having attended Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, and having worked at Ligonier for five years, I had the unbelievable blessing of being exposed to and taught by some great theologians. And so, if I not only exclude those from Scripture, but also, with respect, men like R.C., from whom I have learned as much if not more than anyone, I would say that I would be most excited to study under Wilhelmus à Brakel (1635–1711). Admittedly, most would not be familiar with à Brakel and his theological magnum opus The Christian’s Reasonable Service, but I have never been so moved by theological reflection as I am with à Brakel. à Brakel seemingly had the unique ability to take heady theological reflection and not just make it pastoral, but even emotion-stirring. Coming from the rich Dutch Reformed tradition, his biblical theological reflections are keen, but he never just settles for keenness. His goal seems to be experiential — a rich, Reformed, experiential Christianity. That’s what I pray to have.

Having spent countless hours poring over à Brakel, I feel in some sense that I have studied under him. However, what a joy it would have been to be an eyewitness to the e¡ect his theological insights had on his heart and the hearts of those to whom he was called to minister.œ

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Anthony Carter is the pastor of East Point Church in East Point, Georgia. After completing studies at Atlanta Christian College, he attended Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida, where he received his Master of Arts in Biblical Studies. While in Orlando, Pastor Carter also worked for Ligonier Ministries for several years. He is the author of On Being Black and Reformed: A New Look at the African-American Christian Experience and the editor of Experiencing the Truth: Bringing the Reformation to the African-American Church and Glory Road: The Journeys of 10 African-Americans into Reformed Christianity.

Galette des Rois & Hungarian Soup

I am about to embark on an exciting pastry adventure. For a couple of years now, since seeing this post on Chocolate & Zucchini I’ve wanted to make a homemade Galette des Rois, or King’s Cake for the celebration of the Christian holiday Epiphany. I’m finally going to get to make this cake only this time I have to make five of them! But I’m still excited to do it.

This is the kind of thing I love about cooking: the excitement that comes before getting to create something special. My kitchen is ready. The floor is swept, dishes done, counters cleared. I’m ready to pull out the ingredients and go to work mixing and measuring and baking. Then there’s always that nervous moment when you don’t really know how it’s going to turn out until you taste it. But that comes later. For now, to the counter to start the creme d’amande! Of course, I’ll be continually interrupted by my two little ones, but that’s my wonderful life right now. In fact, what I should say is, the rearing of my two precious little lives will be interrupted by exciting bouts of the act of baking.

A side note: before I begin the galette’s I intend to make this Hungarian soup for dinner. The German Graupensuppe I made the other day was so good, I’m sticking with the Europeans on soups during this chilly winter time. I’ll let you know how everything turns out!

The Stupidest of All Holidays

As president Obama likes to say, let me be clear. The reason our little family doesn’t celebrate Halloween is not because we are stick-in-the-mud Christians who are irrationally afraid of the “evil” that Halloween promotes but rather, it’s because we believe we are being good stewards of our money.

I have counted at least three different posts on the Internet from Christian writers that accuse Christians who don’t want to celebrate Halloween of bolting their doors and turning off their lights on the neighborhood (i.e., the world!) and not wanting to be a witness. Apparently we’re too afraid of all the evil that might rub off on us and our children through celebrating this holiday and we retreat to the backs of our homes with the lights off hoping all the little annoying neighborhood kids in their Satanic costumes will go away. People sometimes assume if we’re not participating, we therefore don’t want to ”witness” to a lost and dying world.

 The reason our family doesn’t “celebrate” (not even sure why “celebrate” and “Halloween” go together) is because we’re too cheap! I sincerely think that buying costumes for the kids and candy for the whole neighborhood for what is really, the stupidest of all holidays, is a complete waste of money. It has nothing to do with not wanting to be salt and light to the people around us. I’m just hard pressed to think of a more useless cause for our money to go to than costumes they wear once and leftover candy that I don’t allow our kids to eat anyway. All for what? So the kids have something fun to do? So they don’t feel left out? On a whim today, my husband took our two kids to a pumpkin patch so I could stay home and get some homeschooling work done. They got their face painted, petted some fun animals and bought me some decorative squash to put on the table.  All for under twenty dollars. So it’s not as though our kids don’t have fun. And our four year old daughter plays “dress up” all the time and will get to wear a princess costume next week when she pretends to be Pharoah’s daughter.

So I wish Christians who particpate in Halloween wouldn’t assume that those of us who don’t are too chicken. Too chicken to get involved in an “evil” holiday and too chicken to witness to non Christians. That’s not the case at all. We’re just too cheap.

A Grotesque Seed in Toxic Soil: Pornography and the Terrorist

Jennifer Bryson has a very intriguing article on the Public Discourse blog today.  She reports at first the disturbing fact that among terrorists that have been caught or killed recently (Osama Bin Laden included) there has been a significant amount of pornography confiscated from their media. She uses the rest of the piece to ask the question, should this link be examined more closely?  Bryson quotes an article about the former Yugoslavia where writer Andrea Dworkin submits a very frightening progression: “”pornography functioned as instruction in “a way of being: dehumanization of women; bigotry and aggression harnessed to destroying the body of the enemy; invasion as a male right.”"

Here’s what I think is part of the crux of Ms. Bryson’s article:

Consider an ideology like a seed and the disposition of the mind like soil. The particular nature of the seed determines what may become of it. Yet at the same time, the elements of the soil are part and parcel of shaping the manner in which the particular seed grows. A seed in toxic soil can grow into a terrible distortion of the plant it is meant to become. What happens when a radical ideology adheres in a pornography-saturated mind?

I think this is a very important question she raises and definitely something our government agencies should explore. Read the whole thing.

The “Politics of Expediency”

“We have embraced the “politics of expediency.” Christians have become very artful in learning conflict avoidance. The Church is now on a reservation: we’re allowed to exist, practice our faith and pray, but forbid it, Lord, if we go off the reservation and disturb the peace by boldly witnessing that Christ is the ONLY way, etc. “

Achingly convicting yet emboldening sermon by R.C. Sproul tonight titled, “Expedience and Extravagance.”

I’ve also read recently a short excerpt of a book called “Loving the Little Years” and the author very wisely says you can’t yearn to minister to orphans in Africa, etc. and not find the joy in taking care of and witnessing to your little ones at home.  That also was convicting to me.  This Sproul sermon makes me think, yes, I need to be bold to the people I encounter, but am I being bold to my own kids at home?  I have found myself afraid of telling Grethe that there are people in our family that aren’t Christians for fear that she’ll one day mention out loud to these family members that we’re praying for them to repent and become Christians and thereby open us all up to persecution. I’m going to stop being afraid of that.  What else is this life about than expending it FOR something?  (Or, Someone?)  Jesus says whoever is ashamed of him and his word, of that person will Jesus be ashamed when he comes. Lord, let that not be me.

God Is Near the Brokenhearted

My husband came quietly out of his office the other day and said that there’s a real “tear-jerker” on Justin’s blog today.  I asked what it was about.  He said I would just have to read it.  Well, I did.  It not only stirs tears but it stirs up the tempest of emotions I have in my gut about losing our little son, Torger Kjoss on June 5th of 2008.  I so long to see his little face.  Especially now since I have another son, Benjamin.  I long to kiss Torger and hold him and kiss his toes and change his diaper and take a gazillion pictures of him and watch him grow and give him a nickname – all the things I do with Benjamin and have done for Grethe.  It feels weird to have someone that’s yours and that’s a part of you so far away from you.  I feel like he belongs here with us.  And of course, in one very true sense he does; he’s our son that God gave us and he’s part of our family.  But in another sense, as Ms. Blanco states so well in her post, he belongs with the Lord right now and that was always God’s plan – it wasn’t his plan B. God knew and always knows what he’s doing.

I’m so thankful to be a Christian.  Hope and peace at the loss of a child at any stage is only found in Jesus Christ, our great God and Savior.

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It Was Not Wicked for the Lord to Take Our Son

On March 31, my husband, Ernie, and I walked into labor and delivery. I was 33 weeks pregnant, and we had come to monitor our son’s movement. We had little concern, thinking we’d be leaving within an hour or two. Perhaps I just needed to drink more fluids or get more rest. Not all babies are super active; maybe he was just so big that there wasn’t much room. These were several of my thoughts as I was just waiting. But after six or seven doctors and nurses looked over the sonogram of our son, they quickly decided they needed to do an emergency cesarean because they weren’t sure why he wasn’t responding. Our emotions could not keep up with the events. I found myself changing into in a hospital gown, wheeling around for a spinal shot. I was instantly numb and entering the first surgery of my life, completely unprepared. Haddon Brooks Blanco arrived within about 20 minutes, 6 weeks early. Through a lot of tears, confusion, and fear, Ernie and I still looked at each other with joy that our son was here, not knowing that we had entered into the darkest weekend of our lives.

Haddon struggled through severe anemia and a virus, and his sweet daddy visited him nearly every hour, loving his little son who looked almost identical to him. For 40 hours we were with him, hearing a roller coaster of good news and bad news. On April 2, the Lord took our sweet boy to be with him. Just before he passed, we were able to sing to him. Ernie sang “It Is Well” and I hummed “A Mighty Fortress” the best I could. I held him for the first time, telling him we’d see him soon. I passed him to Ernie, and when the time came to take all the machines off, Ernie quoted Numbers 6:24-26 as the last words Haddon could hear:

The LORD bless you, and keep you;
The LORD make his face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up his countenance on you,
And give you peace.

As our plans as parents have been thrown into confusion and sadness, we are faced with the question of what happens next. I long each morning to wake up to a crying baby to console in my arms. Ernie longs to come home from a long day of work to play with his son, and each time we walk to the garage we have to pass an empty nursery painted in blue. Through each seemingly impossible fear that rushes to our minds, the Lord has calmed us with several great truths about himself and our circumstance.

The Lord Does Not Delight in Wickedness

It was not wicked for the Lord to take our son. The Lord does not delight in wickedness or evil, his Word tells us in Psalm 5:4. His Word in Psalm 89:14 tells us that his throne is actually built on a foundation of righteousness and justice. I think this is how we can grieve well, when we long to take care and hold our son, to remember God’s foundation of righteousness in all that he does as we grieve in a world of sin and death. Somehow, in the death of our son, God will show us a greater picture of his goodness. Somehow, for our good, this is going to make us look more like his Son, Jesus.

God Is Still on Plan A

Ernie has reminded me that God is still on plan A in his plan of redemption. When Haddon died, God was not surprised or needed to start a plan B because something went wrong. 1 and 2 Peter reminded me that all the trials and suffering I will face here will result in praise and glory in the great day of Jesus Christ when he returns again. Haddon’s death has been part of God’s plan from eternity past; nothing is out of his control.

Haddon Is Now Looking Upon the Face of Mercy

There is a sweetness and gentleness of God that I’ve felt in my pain as I cry out to him, as I sit in Haddon’s nursery, and as I read my Bible. The same sweet, gentle, and kind God is the same God who took my boy to safety. He is in a place where he can see the love of God and hear the gospel of Jesus purely without the distractions of a sinful world. When you watch your son breathe his last, you have an overwhelming sense of not being able to control anything. But I don’t have to worry as his mother about his moment of passing from death to life, because he was instantly and safely ushered into the presence of Christ. Haddon was able to look upon the face of mercy and be sick no more.

Haddon Will Rise Again

This same gentle God got us through his burial with an amazing peace. I dreaded seeing his tiny casket, but when the time came the Holy Spirit quickly reminded me he is not there, but only his body, which he suffers in no longer. He reminded me that, just as Jesus rose from the grave, so too will Haddon rise again. The weight of that peace was unlike any peace I’ve experienced in my entire life. I looked around at all the baby graves, which were many, imagining all these babies one day rising to glory. I love hearing myself say it, Haddon will rise again. It’s our hope for our little boy.

Our Eternal Joy Is Yet to Come

My aching heart is learning to believe that being a mother is not my ultimate happiness. I understand, in a way I never did before, that this world is not a place where we will feel eternal joy. When the people of God finally stand before Christ, who took the punishment for their sin, they will feel the fulfilling, eternal joy that they long to feel here on earth. God has not promised those who belong to him a quick and easy road to heaven, but he does get us there, he promises. Until then, he’s assured us he is “near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

My Greatest Need Is Taken Care Of

Through many tears and days of great sadness, we want people to know that the only reason we feel comfort in our grief is because Jesus has taken the punishment of our sin, has been raised from the dead, and has crushed death. For the Christian, death is not the end. The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes even calls death “greater than our day of birth” (Ecc. 7:1). For those who do not lean upon Jesus Christ as the great Savior from sin, death is the great entrance to eternal punishment, and their life now is the best they will ever have, because eternity after will be torment. I pray you would know this good news today and trust in Christ, the great conquerer of death.

Lisa Blanco lives in Tucson, Arizona with her husband, Ernie, who is a Bible Teacher at Pusch Ridge Christian Achademy. Lisa enjoys writing in her free time.

The Decline of African American Theology

I just finished reading The Decline of African American Theology: From Biblical Faith to Cultural Captivity by Thabiti M. Anyabwile. I’m rather proud of myself because I rarely (especially with two small kids) actually finish a book, but believe it or not, I actually had a hard time putting this book down.

Part of the reason I couldn’t put the book down was simply the topic. I have always been very interested in why the African American church is the way that it is. Thabiti (correctly, in my opinion) assesses the current state of the black church in this way, “[Today's African American church has] become less critical theologically and increasingly more concerned with social, political and educational agendas.  As a consequence of theological drift and erosion, the black church now stands in danger of losing its relevance and power… In effect, cultural concerns captured the church and supplanted the biblical faithfulness that once characterized it.  It has lost the law and the gospel, and stands in danger of lapsing into spiritual rigor mortis.”  (p. 18)

Once Anyabwile establishes the current state of the African American church he then systematically goes through important periods of American history detailing theologically how the church came to be the way that it is, and that is the most engaging and interesting part of the book. You learn in each chapter how the black church over the centuries viewed revelation, God, man, Jesus Christ, salvation, and the Holy Spirit. Each doctrine is examined during a certain time period coinciding with the African American experience with evangelical Christianity, and it was the Early Slavery Era through Abolition Era (1600-1865) that I found the most interesting and where I learned the most.

For example, one burning question for me and I’m sure for many African Americans is how did the slaves that were Christians view their slavery? More than that, how did  they become Christians in the first place?  One would think a slave would vehemently reject every attempt by their owners to assimilate them into the white American culture including rejecting the “white man’s” religion.  That was not the case among some Southern and Northern slaves. Educated black men such as Jupiter Hammon and Lemuel Haynes consistently extolled the sovereignty of God over all creation and in the affairs of men including the evil of slavery.

For Haynes and his generation…the problem of God’s justice and righteousness was not a merely philosophical one. They looked squarely into the actual gross evil of race-based chattel slavery and witnessed the tissue-splitting brutality of the lash…. Astonishingly, that generation of writers and thinkers concluded – in contradiction to the view that made God a disappointed observer of human events and evils like slavery—that God indeed was both sovereign and just.  They saw even in his hard providences beneficence consistent with his character, and therefore an ultimate good for African people as they endured untold and seemingly unending horrors. p.72 (Emphasis mine.)

Other African Americans such as the famous abolitionist and former slave, Olaudah Equiano agreed that God was not only sovereign over slavery but ordained it as a way for black people to be exposed to the blessings of Christianity.  The only possible explanation for that perspective, in my opinion, is the Holy Spirit.  It’s not natural for a person to attribute an evil practice to their own ultimate good. As Thabiti writes, “slavery had not shackled their pursuit of God.”

After reading the section on James Cone and his Black Liberation Theology (chapter four, “What A Friend We Have in Jesus”) I no longer wondered if this way of thinking or viewing the world was wrong.  At times, after hearing about Black Liberation Theology I thought maybe I was missing out on something as a black person.  After reading this section I now know this system of thought is wrong and I can rest easy in my outright rejection of it.

One of my favorite chapters is the Afterward.  Mr. Anyabwile re-centers our focus and puts it where it should be: on the Bible, on God, on the Gospel and on the Church.  In one of my favorite paragraphs of any book anywhere Thabiti gives us the Gospel that should be being preached in black (even all) churches everywhere:

God the Father sent God the Son to live the perfect life of worship and obedience to God that we could not and would not live.  Jesus volunteered to both live that life and pay the penalty of death that we owed for our sin.  He suffered on Calvary’s cross, died a criminal’s death as a substitutionary propitiation and atonement for our sins.  Three days later, he was raised from the dead victorious over sin, death and the grave. Now, all who repent of their sins and believe on Jesus will be saved from the just penalty of their sins, justified before God and given a new life with God.

I wrote “the Gospel!” and “wonderful” next to this paragraph in the book.

I highly recommend this book.  It’s lucidly written, immensely informative and spot on as far as filling out the author’s thesis and goal.  It’s also desperately needed.  It hasn’t been a conscious decision, but one of the reasons I do not attend an all-black church is because a large majority of all-black churches have really bad theology and I don’t have time for that. I don’t have time to sit under preaching about “social justice” or about being “multicultural” as a church. I have one life and two kids that need a bold and zealous faith passed on to them.  Let me sit under preaching on the Lord’s Day that will exalt Christ with sound doctrine and equip me to go out and speak the same to anyone and everyone.